COLIN CORNEAU/THE BRANDON SUN
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RBC Royal Bank is constructing a new branch on 18th Street. Officials say it could be open as soon as Sept. 10.
While the new RBC Royal Bank branch at 18th Street and Van Horne Avenue is not set to open until September, there is excitement about a new style of banking that will take place there.
"In the older buildings, we’d use offices for our relationship staff," said Terry Burgess, the bank’s Manitoba West regional vice-president. "They’ll actually have meeting rooms now where they will meet clients but those spaces won’t be their own. They’ll have a bit of a cubicle in the back, and when they want to meet a client, they’ll use a meeting room."
The idea is for the bank’s staff to become more mobile and able to offer a flexible variety of service options. As a result, the bank’s foyer area will also have interactive displays, computer terminals and staff on hand to walk clients through whatever financial question they may have.
Much of the floor space at the branch will be an open concept design, with nine teller positions, three ATMs inside the building and a drive-thru ATM outside the building. The open concept area will also enable RBC staff to conduct financial seminars inside the branch for the public.
"It’s like RBC meets Apple," said Liz Redston, the RBC’s Winnipeg-based regional manager for public affairs and communications. "Imagine an Apple Store turning into a bank. That’s what you are going to have with the new RBC store. It’s our retail store concept. This is really based on how customer needs are evolving."
Once all operations have moved over to the new building, the existing structure will be torn down and the space used for parking, with more than 30 stalls available.
"We’ll have 31 stalls there compared to the 12 we have there now," Burgess said. "That’s a significant improvement."
The new 6,500 sq.-ft. building is also an increase from the 4,200 square feet now in use, Burgess said, representing an approximately 20 per cent increase in space.
While bank officials say the new branch could be open as soon as Sept. 10, construction delays could push back opening day.
» kborkowsky@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition June 16, 2012
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